His Return
by Valen Banpaia
Summary: While Seto and the Gang go to America for Spring Break, they run into a situation they weren't expecting. Rated teen for yoai. Pairings: YugiXYami, SetoXJoey, and more.
1. Prologue

Prologue

**Prologue**

"We can use my personal lodge in the Rockies," offered Seto. Shortly after Yami's mysterious return, Seto started to actually attempt to befriend the gang. Of course, Joey didn't like that idea. Yugi was able to persuade Joey to give Seto a chance, and now Joey is actually getting along very well with Seto.

"Personal lodge!? Man, Yugi was right, it is great having a rich friend!" shouted Joey.

"Hey!" retorted Yugi.

"It's fine Yugi, I could tell 'mutt' was lying," joked Seto.

"You wanna fight big shot!" yelled Joey as everybody started laughing.

"Come on Joey, let it go," sighed Yugi as he was holding back Joey.

"Are you gonna order or am I gonna have to kick you out?"

"Ha, ha, very funny, Téa. I'll have a Choco-Crunch Grandé Sundae," answered Joey.

"I'll have a large latté," responded Seto.

"Yami, Yugi, can you two stop kissing each other long enough to tell me what you're gonna to order?"

"Sorry, we'll have the same as Joey … to share," said Yami as he blushed beet-red.

"Hey, Big Bro," greeted Serenity.

"Hey, Sis. Hey … Duke! What are you doing with my sister? What are doing with him?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, dude. I just picked her up from the book store to take her to the hotel to see you, she called; when we got their, Solomon said you had come here," explained a fairly calm Duke.

"Do y'all want to come with us to my personal lodge in the Rockies?" offered Seto.

"Sure," answered Serenity and Duke in unison.

"What use is it having friends, if you can't take them anywhere or mooch off of them, right 'mutt'?" stated Seto.

"Why I aught to…"

"Joey…," warned Serenity.

"What about you Téa?" questioned Seto.

"I can't, I'll have to work all break just to pay my part of the hotel stay."

"Don't worry, I'll pay for the stay," offered Seto.

"I don't know, I don't want be a bother."

"Téa."

"Okay!"

"Look there's Tristan and Ryo," pointed out Yugi.

"How hard is it to tell us where you'll be? We've been walking through this town for two hours trying to find you." griped Tristan.

"Ryo, do you and 'crybaby' want to come with us to Seto's personal lodge?" asked Joey before checking with Seto.

"My new car can only hold seven people."

"That's okay my uncle's letting me use his new Mustang. Tristan, if you want, you can ride with me." Ryo offered to Tristan.

"Okay with me."

"When did you want to leave?" Ryo asked.

"This afternoon works," everybody agreed.

"Oh, well it's going to take longer than that find all my essentials to pack up," stuttered Ryo.

"We never unpacked," thought Tristan.


	2. Chapter 1: On The Way There

Chapter 1: On the Way There

**Chapter 1: On the Way There**

"I bet Joey's already come up thirty ways to embarrass me at the lodge," said Tristan, thinking aloud.

"Remember the reaction when Yami and Yugi came out… We just got on the road and need the directions to the lodge…239 Winchester Rd., got it. …if they found out before we got to the lodge, Seto probably would have crashed," Ryo insisted.

"I know. Well at least we have each other all to ourselves," agreed Tristan while smiling at Ryo, who was turning redder than a tomato.

"Stop, I'm trying to drive," giggled Ryo as Tristan was kissing on his cheek.

"Then pull over."

"Tristan!"

- - # - -

"You're snuggled a little close to my sister, Duke," threatened Joey.

"Man, you need to chill," commented Duke as he moved away.

"Chill! I'm protecting my sister from…" screamed Joey, who was cut off by Seto…

"Damn it 'mutt,' I'm trying to drive, shut up!"

"Yeah Big Bro, I'm fine," reasoned Serenity.

"Besides, I wasn't snuggling," said Duke.

"Yes, you were," responded Joey.

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

"Yes, I was."

"No, you weren't."

"Thank you."

"That's not fair."

"Yes, it is."

"No…"

"Will you two shut up!?" Téa frustratedly yelled.

Suddenly the car pulled to the side, and Seto turned around:

"That does it, the next person who yells is gonna kicked on the side of the road."

- - # - -

"Ryo, pull over, you look tired. I'll take over the driving from here."

"Thanks, but I'm okay."

"I wasn't asking, now pull over."

"But…"

"Now."

Ryo pulled over, got out quite more sluggishly than Tristan, got into the passenger's seat, and fell asleep almost immediately. Before pulling out onto the road again, Tristan took a moment to admire the attractiveness of his lover in sleep.

"Not sleepy. Right," Tristan thought.

- - # - -

"Well, we're here. Anybody want to volunteer to unpack?" announced Seto.

"We will," volunteered Yami and Yugi.

"When we finish unpacking, can I talk to you two in private?" Seto asked


	3. Chapter 2: The Diner

Chapter 2: The Diner

**Chapter 2: The Diner**

"Ryo, Ryo wake up," urged Tristan as he was nudging Ryo to wake him up.

"No, no, no… Ah!" screamed Ryo as he woke up.

"The nightmare again," Tristan asked.

"Yes," stuttered Ryo as he was still trying to overcome the shock his vision of going off the edge of the road into the shadow realm.

"Have you figured out why you keep having the nightmare?"

"I think it might be a way of torture the tomb robber left in my head just so I'm reminded of why I shouldn't have gotten rid of the Ring… and him."

"I see."

"So, why did you wake me?"

"Oh, we're coming up to a rest stop, I was wondering if you need anything to eat?"

"No, I'm f…" Ryo started but was interrupted by his growling stomach.

"Next exit, right," laughed Tristan.

"Yes," answered Ryo as he was trying to avoid Tristan's eyes.

After another 20, or so, miles, they pulled up to the local diner both with their stomachs growling up a storm. When they went in, they sat at the very first booth, hoping to get quick service. Then as they were ordering, Tristan didn't even realize that the waitress was giving him a flirtatious look until he looked up and saw Ryo returning her a jealous one and waited until she left to say:

"You know you're hot when you're jealous, don't you?"

"Well you're mine."

"What, you're not willing to share?"

"No, I'm not," said Ryo trying not to give into Tristan's humor.

As soon as the food got there, Tristan dug right into his double cheeseburger. Whereas, Ryo took his time eating his French fries. When they finished, they paid and went back to the car.

"You know you have a spot of ketchup right above your lips?" Tristan mentioned.

"Yes… I do," said Ryo as he was giving Tristan a lustful smile.

Then, Tristan moved as close as he could with the cup holder in the way, and Ryo wrapped his arms around him. Tristan licked off the ketchup, then moved to the lips and gave a very passionate kiss. When they finished, Ryo thought:

"Better than the last: just like always."

As Ryo started to back out, very slowly, a puke-green Hummer slammed into the back of the Mustang.

"Damn it!" Ryo said as he was getting out of the car.

Tristan was so shocked by Ryo's abnormal language that he didn't realize Ryo even got out of the car until he heard the yelling:

"This is a 16,000 dollar car!" yelled Ryo.

"This is a 60,000 dollar car, you S.O.B.!" yelled the stranger after slugging Ryo so hard Ryo fell over.

When Tristan heard a crack when Ryo hit the ground, he ran out of the car so fast, he slid and crashed into the stranger. When the stranger got up, he was so sorry about hurting Ryo he decided the crash wasn't worth worrying about (and left). After he was able to get Ryo into the passenger's seat, he tried to start the car, but to his dismay, it was out of fuel and the closest gas station was 12 miles away.

"Damn it!"

"Tristan…" Ryo trailed off unable to stay conscious.

"Oh no, come on Ryo, stay awake… please!" begged Tristan nearly in tears.

- - # - -

"Hello?" said Seto answering the phone.

"Seto, some a-hole just knocked out Ryo and his car ran out of gas. Please, come and get us, and hurry… please. He's coughing up blood. Please, hurry."

"Oh my god," thought Seto.

"What's wrong?" asked Yami and Yugi who just finished explaining the plan.

"Ryo just got knocked out, is coughing up blood, and their out of gas," Seto frantically explained.

"I'll go get the first aid kit, Yami go get some pillows for Ryo, and Seto go get the car started," commanded Yugi, who was surprisingly calm for what he just heard.

- - # - -

"Okay, first lets get Ryo into the car," suggested Yami.

"Okay, then I'll put the pillows in the right spots," offered Yugi.

"Then, I'll get the first aid kit and…"

"I'll treat it," said Tristan, interrupting Seto.

As Yami and Yugi were watching Tristan, whose eyes were becoming very clouded from sadness, they asked:

"You two are too, aren't you?"

"Yes, we would have come out earlier, but when we saw the reaction when you two came out, we decided to wait," answered Tristan, who was about to start crying.

"Don't worry, you're not the only ones who are going to be coming out this vacation," Yami reassured.

"Who else…?"

"Me," answered Seto, without waiting for Yami.

"Joey, right."

"Yes. Is it that obvious?" asked Seto.

"Well, when me and Ryo realized we were and then Yami and Yugi came out, we pretty much knew you and Joey were next."


	4. Chapter 3: They Come Out

Chapter 3: They Come Out

**Chapter 3: They Come Out**

"Joey we need the sofa, please," Tristan said with his lover cradled in his arms.

"Of course, what happen to Ryo?" asked Joey.

"Some a-hole slammed into Ryo's car and when he got out he knocked Ryo out."

"Oh my, gosh!" responded Serenity.

"Duke, can you help get some of the pillows out of the car?" asked Yugi.

"Certainly," said Duke as he was heading to the door.

"Wait, the sofa changes into a bed. Tristan, do you want to sleep with Ryo because if you wish I can get a temporary bed for you?" insisted Seto.

"I will."

Once Ryo was on the bed with a couple of pillows behind his head, Tristan sat by him and gave a worried kiss on the forehead. To this sight, Joey said:

"So you finally decided to come out."

"Finally? You knew we were seeing each other?"

"Well, didn't you send me a letter where you were admitting you were?" asked Joey.

"No, I never sent a letter."

"But you even sent me a piece of the Millennium Puzzle to give to Serenity, didn't you?"

"The Millennium Puzzle disappeared along with Yami, but never reappeared, even after Yami did," corrected Yugi.

"But I have the letter right here, see."

"That's my journal paper," corrected Serenity.

"But it had Tristan's name on it. Serenity, show Yugi the piece of the Millennium Puzzle."

When Yugi saw the piece he was amazed, but didn't understand where it came from.

- - # - -

"But I don't want to leave Ryo!" persisted Tristan.

"I'll stay here, don't worry! Besides, I don't want to be left with Serenity with Duke and you can keep up with them better than me," argued Joey.

"Seto's with them."

"Yeah, but he always gets distracted with work."

"How can he get into work this far from headquarters?"

"Are you going to make me fight you?"

"We're already fighting," retorted Tristan, actually starting to get in good mood since Ryo was hurt.

"Tristan!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going! Just, please, take good care of Ryo."

"Don't worry, I will," said Joey, sounding the most sincere he's ever been.

After Tristan was gone, Joey sat in the large chaise lounge and fell asleep not five minutes afterwards.

- - # - -

When Seto walked in, Joey was so fast asleep, that he took a shower and was dressing when Ryo started convulsing… then stopped breathing…

"Stop standing there and help me!" yelled Joey, who was trying to do CPR on Ryo.

"Oh, right!" said Seto who was still disoriented from how fast all of this was happening.

"I'll pump the heart, you jumpstart the lungs," commanded Joey.

"Okay," agreed Seto, who was amazed by how quickly Joey responded to the situation.

"Man, Seto's hot when he's half-naked. I shouldn't be thinking that, Ryo's in danger, besides I'm a guy. I'm not gay, am I? Even if I was, I wouldn't be attracted to Seto, would I?" thought Joey through all this.

"He is hot when he is so under control of things. I just hope when I come out to him, he doesn't think that I'm crazy," hoped Seto.

After about five minutes of CPR, they stopped and to their amazement, Ryo started breathing. They were glad they didn't have to break any bad news to Tristan.

"Man, I almost started crying for Tristan, for a minute there," remarked Joey.

"Yeah, me too. Joey, listen I… I…"

Instead of stuttering his way through his sentence, Seto decided to take Joey, and kiss him right on the lips hoping Joey wouldn't freak out. Seto was actually surprised when Joey not only accepted the kiss, but started kissing back, with maybe even more passion than him...

"Well, it's about time!" announced Duke when Serenity, Tristan, Yami, Yugi, and he walked in, "I thought y'all would never admit it to each other."


	5. Chapter 4: The Crash

Chapter 4: The Crash

**Chapter 4: The Crash**

"Well, that was the shop they said the insurance covered everything and that the car's ready to pick up," announced Tristan.

"Me and Duke will go and pick it up," suggested Serenity.

"Over my dead body!" refused Joey.

"Don't worry I'll go with them and keep an eye on them," whispered Seto into Joey's ear.

"Better keep both eyes on them," Joey whispered back.

- - # - -

"Tell us the truth, don't you think Joey can be a nuisance?" asked Duke as they were heading to the shop.

"Absolutely," Seto answered while laughing.

"Big Bro's not that bad," insisted Serenity.

"You have to say that, he's your brother," disagreed Duke.

"He's really not that bad," Seto assured.

"You have to s…"

Suddenly, a deer ran out of the forest and Seto curved and drove straight off the road.

- - # - -

"Seto, Seto!" Joey yelled into the phone hoping to get a response, "Quick, get your coats! Seto's crashed and we need to get their quick!"

"My Ra," said Yami, trying not to think of the worst thing that can happen, putting on his coat.

In less than 45 seconds, they were in the car and driving off. When they reached the crash site, Joey ran out of the car and immediately ran to the driver's seat. Seeing Seto with his head laying on the wheel with his eyes closed, not breathing, and blood coming out of his mouth, Joey nearly threw-up. Joey broke down crying, after seeing Serenity bleeding from her head and eyes open, seeming to stare straight through him.

"Joey, ambul…" coughed Duke, before completely passing out.

"Joey!" said Yugi, before puking at the sight of Joey covered in blood.

"Did you call the…"

"Yes," Tristan answered before Joey finished his question.

"So, how are they?" asked Yami, very somberly.

"I think Seto and… and… Serenity are… are… are…" stuttered Joey unable to finish.

"We know. What about Duke?" Yami asked gingerly.

"He just passed out; I think he's still alive."

After loading Seto, Serenity, and Duke into the ambulance, they led a fourth ambulance to the cabin to take Ryo too. Once they were in the ambulance, they received a message via the between ambulance radio that Seto and Serenity didn't make it. At the moment Joey heard this, he became so distant, he looked like a manikin from a shop window.


	6. Chapter 5: The Return

Chapter 5: The Return

**Chapter 5: The Return**

"She had this on around her neck, does it mean anything to you?" asked the nurse.

"No," answered Joey, taking it anyway.

"That's the piece to the Millennium Puzzle," noticed Yugi.

"But why is it jet black?" responded Yami.

"How should I know?" said Joey, angrily.

"Whoa. Don't yell at them, you sh…"

"Let it go, he lost his sister and boyfriend at the same time. He deserves some time to adjust," said Yami to calm Tristan.

- - # - -

"Joey, are you in here?" panted Téa after running around the entire hospital trying to find him. "Oh, my god. What are you doing?"

In the corner of the broom closet, she found Joey sitting on a metal chair looking at the blade of his pocket knife.

"I can't take it anymore. I want the suffering to stop," monotonely answered Joey.

"Joey listen, neither Serenity nor Seto would want you to do this. They'd want you to live your life to the fullest," pleaded Téa.

"How do you know? Maybe, just maybe, they'd want me to join them."

- - # - -

"Doctor, hurry he's waking…" called the nurse before Ryo, or rather the tomb robber, knocked her out.

"Cursed hospitals. If they just leave me to self-heal, I would have completely healed two hours ago," complained the tomb robber, as he was trying to rip off the wires connected to him.

- - # - -

"Joey, just give me the knife," pleadingly commanded Téa.

"Why should I? It's the key to seeing Serenity and Seto again."

"Joey… Ah!" screamed Téa, when Joey slashed her with his pocket knife.

Suddenly, Joey realized what he just did and as quickly as he could, ripped off part of his t-shirt and wrapped it around the gnash on her arm, as he pleaded to her:

"Téa, I'm sorry. It's just; I keep hearing Seto's voice on the phone and then when I saw Serenity… I hoped so much it was a nightmare, then the ambulance came and I knew it wasn't. Please, I'm sorry!"

Téa realized Joey was crying, so she sat on her legs and held him so he wouldn't feel he'd need to restrain.

"It's okay. Don't worry," Téa reassured Joey, who was now sobbing so hard she thought she was going to cry.

- - # - -

"They should be here somewhere… Awe there they are," the tomb robber thought, "Now, where are their friends?"

- - # - -

Suddenly, the piece of the Millennium Puzzle started to glow an eerie purplish-red color.

"What's going on? Why's it glowing?" asked Téa.

"If I knew, I'd tell you," answered Joey.

"Damn. Where's the pharaoh? I need to find him, now," pleaded the tomb robber.

"Ryo, your u… Did you just say pharaoh? Since, when do you use pharaoh?" asked Joey.

"Since I'm not Ryo, I'm Bakura, the previous tomb robber."

"What? But you disappeared along with the Millennium Puzzle," said Téa.

"It was the other way around, actually. I had sealed part of my soul in the Millennium Puzzle, in case I was ever needed to return to this infernal realm."

"So why don't you seem so bent on getting your revenge on the pharaoh?" asked Joey.

"Because an even more dangerous threat than me is about to break out of the shadow realm, Diabond."

"What?" yelled Yami, who was finally able to find Téa and Joey.

"Yes, I had to find a way to trap Seto's and Serenity's souls bef…"

"You, you this to Seto and Serenity. I'm going to h…" started Joey after hitting the tomb robber right in the chin.

"Are you crazy? Can't you see he's still in Ryo's body?" yelled Joey after tackling Joey to the ground.

"As I was saying, I had to trap their souls before he could get a hold of them…" said the tomb robber, apparently unphased by what just happen.

"Why would he want their souls?" asked Yugi.

"If he could reverse Serenity's innocence, he'd have an assistant so evil nothing could stop her; maybe, not even him. As for Seto, if he could steal Seto's dueling skills, he'd be truly unstoppable," informed the tomb robber, "As long as I have their souls and not him, we're safe."

"We need the Hilackti, don't we?" asked Duke.

"How do you know about the Hilackti? Wait… When did you come to?" asked Joey.

"I'm not totally sure and a couple of minutes ago."

"Yes, we do need him. But I don't have the god cards," the tomb robber answered Duke.

"Neither do we, after the final battle, they disappeared," said Yugi.

"What? Damn. Do you at least know where Isis and Marik are? They should have the original ba stones. If they don't, we'll have to try Maxamillion," planned the tomb robber.

"Why Maxamillion?" asked Joey.

"Because if Marik and Isis don't have the ba stones, Maxamillion probably has the ba stones for when he made the god cards," explained Duke, as if reading the tomb robbers mind.

"How do you know that? I know Maxamillion endorsed Dungeon Dice Monsters, but did he ever explain this to you because I don't think we did," inquired Tristan.

"He must have been 'infected' with Kaiba's memories, I know when I sealed Kaiba he wasn't completely there. Part of his memory was gone," answered the tomb robber.

"How is he supposed to get his memories back from Duke," asked Joey, obviously angry about this explanation.

"I'll be honest. I am not actually completely sure. This is the first time I have actually planned to give back a soul," confessed the tomb robber.

"I wonder if Shadi would know how to? After all, he does know many secrets about the Millennium Items that we probably still haven't found out," suggested Téa.

"No, we should ask Maxamillion. He was able to give back Kaiba's soul once," retorted Joey, the gladdest he's been since the crash.

"One problem: he no longer has the Millennium Eye. When I was still trapped in Millennium Ring, I stole his Millennium Eye, which disappeared with the Millennium Ring," corrected the tomb robber, who, for the first time ever, felt a pang of guilt.

"Oh… I see," said Joey becoming distant again.

"I am very sorry," said the tomb robber sounding more like Ryo than himself.


	7. Chapter 6: A Plight

Chapter 6: A Plight

**Chapter 6: A Plight**

"So, how do we find Ishizu and Marik?" asked Joey, trying not to sound doubtful.

"Well, the last we heard of them was when Yami disappeared," pointed out Yugi.

"Maybe they thought the world was finally safe from devastation from the shadow realm, and Ishizu may have put away the Millennium Necklace," theorized Tristan.

"Give Ishizu more credit than that. She knows that would be nearly impossible," disagreed Yami.

"Then, why…"

"Aren't I here. The Millennium Necklace gave me a vision of you being here, and I know about Diabound. Marik is bringing the ba stone for Slypher. Maxamillion still has the ba stone for Obelisk. But we do not know the location of the ba stone for Ra," Ishizu interrupted Tristan.

Suddenly a nurse gave out a blood curdling scream. When they ran out, Téa did the same seeing Marik's other self standing over the now dead nurse, laughing:

"Diabound will never be defeated! He is a perfect leader! He will win! Not even the Gods will defeat him! Not as long as I am one of his followers!"

"I thought the pharaoh destroyed you at the Battle City finals," said Ishizu.

"You really think I can be defeated that easily?!" retorted Marik's other self.

"So, how did you survive without the Millennium Rod to inhabit?" asked Yugi.

"He doesn't need it because he is part of Marik. He is Marik's rage, Marik's evil, and Marik's hate. Whereas, Pharaoh and I were spirits that had been ensealed in the Millennium Items," the tomb robber answered for Marik.

"And as long as I'm a disciple of Diabound, you will never find Hilackti!" unneededly screamed Marik, as he threw Slypher's ba stone on the nurse's head, not only smashing the stone but killing the nurse.

- - # - -

"This is all, my fault!" Ishizu thought aloud as she was tending to Marik, who was knocked out by Tristan at the hospital.

"Don't blame yourself, Ishizu. How were you supposed to know that his other side was going take over?" comforted Yugi.

"But I should have been able to anticipate…" responded Ishizu.

"If I didn't detect his other side before he appeared, I doubt even the Millennium ring would have been able to," corrected the tomb robber, unknowingly comforting Ishizu.

"I thought the Millennium ring saw the future…" Joey broke-off realizing he might be saddening Ishizu.

"No it can only simply predict the future. Although, using shadow realm magic make it very accurate but not always accurate. Unfortunately, if Marik's other self was able to escape his shadow realm banishment, then there's a chance Diabound might be able to escape easier than I thought, especially if he has help," said the tomb robber.

"Ishizu… the rod… where's the rod?" asked Marik, who was waking.

"It's in the chest, why?" answered Ishizu, glad Marik was well.

"I have an idea to stop all this, but I need the rod," Marik answered back.

"Here it is!" obeyed Joey, who was to excited to think.

"No!" yelled Ishizu and the tomb robber, both realizing what Marik was going to do. But it was too late; as soon as it was his hand he sliced open his neck.

"Marik! This has to be a nightmare, it has to be!" Ishizu hysterically cried while holding Marik's head in her arms.

"He can't hurt us anymore," Marik softly announced with his last breath, as the Millennium Rod disintegrated.

- - # - -

"I can see why he thought this would cure the situation, but I'm sure his other self wasn't the only one trying to release Diabound," the tomb robber whispered to the others, truly regarding somebody else's feelings for the first time in his life.

"At least with the rod gone now, we won't have to worry about Marik's other self or the rod," assured Duke, so loud Isis heard him over herself.

"How can you be glad that he committed suicide?! He was my brother! He was worth the world to me! He's dead! He's dead. I'll never be able to see him smile again. Never!" yelled Isis, "It's the Millennium Items, they're cursed. That's it, they're cursed. They're cursed!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way, I'm sorry," Duke apologized.

"Don't be mad, none of us would mean to hurt you or your brother. I promise we wouldn't," reassured Téa as she pulled Duke away from Ishizu.

"Here, you to clean off the blood before you get sick. When we revive him, he needs to see you healthy," said Yami as he handed Ishizu a towel.

"You're right," Ishizu said thankfully.

"Not meaning to be a downer, but do you really think we'll be able t… ow!" grunted Duke after being punched in the eye by Joey.

"Don't you even dare and try to suggest that we won't be able to. Ishizu, you, and I are all depending on it. That last thing we need is somebody doubting, especially you. Now shut-up, and if you feel like saying something doubtful again, don't!" exclaimed an enraged Joey.

"Why would I be depending on it?" Duke asked modestly.

"Oh, come on! As much as I hate to admit it to myself, you love my sister. And, honestly, if we do revive Serenity, I wouldn't mind letting you date her," said Joey with tears running down his face.

"Thanks, dude!" Duke thanked, hugging Joey and kissing him on the cheek, "Oh, uh… sorry, must've been the part of Kaiba that's in me."

"Yeah, that's it," said Joey trying to neither blush nor puke at the same time.

- - # - -

"I didn't want to worry Ishizu, but since his soul wasn't taken, I'm not sure that he can be revived," the tomb robber admitted.

"What?! Y'all heard what I said a while ago. I literally promised that I'd be able to. Wait… since when do you not want to worry somebody?" asked Joey accidentally hurting the tomb robber's feelings.

"Since I found out that it wasn't the pharaoh's father, but Diabound, was who the one who ruined my life back in Egypt. I'm very sorry for all the trouble I caused you," answered the tomb robber.

"It's quite alright. But you can call me Yami."

"Yeah, but what should we call him," inquired Tristan.

"Everybody used to call me Thief," suggested the tomb robber, sarcastically.

"No, we're friends. That's not something a friend would call another friend," rejected Yugi.

"Since we call Ryo by his first name, why don't we him Bakura," answered Tristan.

"I'm fine with that," agreed Bakura.

- - # - -

"Marik, you're alive! I knew it had to be a nightmare, I knew," Ishizu happily yelled.

"Look around, Sister. This is the dream. I'm sorry," Marik's spirit sympathetically admitted.

"But it can't be; you can't be gone. You can't!" pleaded Ishizu.

"I'll never be gone from you. As long as you have a Millennium Item, you'll always be able to talk to me. I promise," he assured her, as he was hugging her.

- - # - -

"What's happening to your cards, Bakura?" asked Téa.

"What do have cards for anyways?" asked Tristan.

"These are the cards I have the souls sealed in," answered Bakura.

"What?! Why haven't you told us about them?" asked Joey.

"I was afraid you would be mad."

"That doesn't matter. What's happening?" interrupted Yugi.

"I don't know," answered Bakura.

He pulled out the cards and was surprised to see that two of the previously blank cards now had pictures of Marik and Ryo. Then Ishizu burst in.

"Give me that!" she screamed as she grabbed the card with his soul in it.

"I understand why you want it; after all he was your brother. But, it's probably best if I keep it," persuaded Bakura.

"He's my brother, he's my responsibility, even if it's only his soul," Ishizu dejectedly yelled.

"But…"

"Let it go," Tristan whispered into Bakura's ear stopping him.

"So, why is Ryo's spirit in one of the cards?" Yugi wondered aloud.

"It might have been because I had to take over Ryo to heal him. But this time I was using such a powerful healing spell, I might have sealed my soul into this body and accidentally forced out his soul," assumed Bakura.

"But since we have his soul, we can revive him. Right?" hoped Tristan.

"Well, we'd have to share bodies again, but yes," answered Ryo.

"Would we be able to bring back I?" asked Téa.


	8. Chapter 7: The Stone

Chapter 7: The Stone

**Chapter 7: The Stone**

"Sir, you have some more visitors," the receptionist announced to Maxamillion.

"Ah, Yugi-boy. And… you! What are you doing here?!" Maxamillion greeted.

"Long time, no see, guys. What brings you here?" asked Mai.

"D… D… Diabou… ound has returned," stuttered Bakura seeing Mai and blushing.

"What's wrong hot stuff? Shy around cute girls?" mocked Mai.

"Um… Mai… I'm…" Joey started nervously.

"With Kaiba, I know. Yugi called and told me. Speaking of Kaiba, where is he?" asked Mai.

When she asked that, all Joey could do was look at the floor and try not to think about the situation too much.

"What a coincidence, I was about to contact all of you to discuss about Diabound. Mai had an appointment, so I decided to inform her since you all are friends," explained Maxamillion.

"Do have the ba stone for Obelisk?" asked Yami.

"I did but yesterday it turned to dust. Was one of the other ba stones destroyed?" asked Maxamillion.

"Yes, his other self appeared and used it to kill a nurse, shattering it," said Ishizu, who almost started crying.

"So, where is I-boy?" asked Maxamillion.

"He killed himself in an attempt to stop all this," Téa answered almost seeming to cry herself.

"Shadi!" pointed out Yugi.

"Yes, young one," Shadi responded.

"We need to revive our friends' souls to their bodies. Can you help us?" asked Yugi.

"How did they lose their souls?" inquired Shadi.

"Diabound attempted to kill them, but I was able to attain their souls before he could," answered Bakura.

"If Diabound was the one who tried to kill them, he most likely put a curse over them. He most likely put a curse over anybody who protected them or tried to stop him, too," Shadi pointed out.

"I see. So, can we revive them," asked Bakura.

"You can by defeating Diabound," answered Shadi.

- - # - -

"He may be dead, but I never expected him to live anyway. His other side so predictable. At least he accomplished his mission," stated Diabound.

"So, what is our next command?" asked Dark Necrofear.

"Since the resurrection of Hilackti is now impossible, we plan our attack," answered Diabound, with a smirk on his face. "And, we have two secret weapons. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha."

- - # - -

"Translate his ba stone!? Why wasn't the ba stone destroyed when you had the chance?" exclaimed Joey, outraged.

"Because there was no point. Every one of his disciples made an alternate stone and hid them around Egypt. My dad knew he never found all the copies, so there's no way they were all destroyed," answered Yami.

"And this was the only one I found," added Maxamillion.

"Oh… But is there anyone who can translate it," asked Joey, apologetically.

"I can!" said Ishizu.

"Great!" exclaimed Joey, trying to recover from stumbling when Ishizu walked in.

"I can start translating right now."

- - # - -

"All it is just the spell that sealed him," announced Ishizu.

"Then, how are we able to figure out how to defeat him?" cursed Joey.

"If Shadi said there's a way to stop him, there is," reassured Yugi.

"What's the spell?" asked Yami.

"Very short and simple: 'Purity seal the stone, Power trap him in,'"

"What? Somebody, bring me Seto's and Serenity's soul cards," commanded Bakura.

Tristan gave him the cards, and Bakura held a strangely-shaped strip of metal over them. The metal turned from a slick, shiny silver to a strong, glowing gold color.

"This isn't good. Their evil has disappeared, and I didn't do it," said Bakura, sounding frightened.

"Why?" asked Joey.

"Because, the Purity in Serenity and the Power in Seto would be exactly opposite in their evil, thus Diabound could break free completely. And, not only that, when manipulated, their evil will create almost unstoppable weapons," realized Ishizu.

* * *

I'm having a writer's block, so it may be while before I post another chapter of "His Return."


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